My magnum opus is finished

Michelangelo had the Sistine Chapel.
Beethoven had his fifth symphony.
Tolstoy had War and Peace.

I have this.
The piece of art I shamelessly copied from one I saw at Cost Plus. I think it has become my magnum opus, my greatest work. (You know you love how dramatic I am.)

But remember how I started it IN JULY?? I have never spent so many hours on a project in my life. And had I known what kind of time it would have taken in the first place, ummm, I would not have done it.

But I'm so glad I did, because now it's hanging in my entry and it makes me really happy.



And I feel proud of myself when I look at it. Don't you think Casey will be proud of me too, the artist that she is?

Here are a couple more cutey things I recently hung next to the front door. (Excuse the shadows caused by the coloring pages taped to the windows.)

I love my new bulletin board. You can get one here (except I found it at their outlet store for cheap!).
The 4x6 printables were little treats from Blog Sugar if you attended the session with our pal Julie.
The black & white "Blessed" graphic was a postcard in my Blog Sugar swag bag, from here.
The giant-sized push pins are from here.
The key-shaped wall hook is from here.
I won the birdie plaque from a giveaway, made by her. I customized my own saying based on part of this passage. Love this company. Check them out. I got sucked in and bought gifts too.
And the turquoise metal container, which I'm using for mail, is actually from here (their back-to-school section from the summer).
And the calendar! My favorite one. Not practical, but so beautiful. Can't wait to get the 2012 for the same spot. Check it out here. YUM.

What's new around your house??

I know you have some little - ok, maybe BIG - projects you've been workin' on! Show us, show us!

{in the house with Heather today}

 

life made lacy

hey, you want to make something really cute for yourself (or a friend) in a hurry?

make one of these lacy lovely cuffs!

it's simple and fancy and pretty darn easy.

for all you friends that live locally, i think we are going to have to offer these from tidbit soon.

but i thought i should share this sweet idea with those of you that live in all parts of the world....

yah, no tutorial needed.

just take a long strip of ripped fabric.

measure some lace and trim around your wrist and sew it on , in the middle!

it could look something like mine, or not.

you could tie it in a knot (like i did)

or a bow.

you could use any number of other creative products to make it yours.

what do you have laying around?

i really just like how it lays like a cuff.

but yours could be anything!

Back to School Lovely

Alright, I just can't wait for you to come over anymore.

I want to show you my Back to School decor. I don't usually get too excited about these kinds of things. The times are few and far between when I feel like I have AND know how to coordinate an ensemble of things to display for a given season. You are the supreme expert in this area, and so I learn a lot from you.

So this time, I tried really hard. I spent a long time. I thought and shifted and added and subtracted.



I just want to explain my process, since I'm not super confident in my display planning, in case others are reading this who feel the same. My starting point was a square vintage tablecloth I have that is red and navy plaid with a bit of yellow in it. I tried to stay focused on using only items that coordinated with this, or were white. For instance, for my crayon jar, I picked all the primary colored bits out of our broken crayons box, and allowed a few chalkboard green ones in too.



I also wanted to express our love for books. I stuck to the narrow color range in choosing the books for my stacks, trying to stick to classic looks and titles, and ones we love. I also had the idea to make a book page garland to hang across my large, old screen. I found one book in our collection with simple illustrations in colors that matched my backdrop, with childish text, and interesting images, and spent a bunch of time photocopying (2 book sheets per page of paper) and cutting them out. I could have ripped the pages out of the book. But I didn't want to ruin it. This book was one from the Nate the Great series. This garland is my favorite part of my display.

I really struggled to find things I already had to fill my three jars. I didn't want to go buy thirty erasers, although those kinds of jars I've seen all over the internet crammed with school supplies are so cute. I wanted it all to be free. So I had to stretch the category of "school supply" a bit. I filled one jar with red and yellow yarn. One with empty coin rolls (let's just pretend there are coins in them), and into the third, I put the pieces to one of our wooden puzzles (much to my son's dismay. angry voice: "Look what mom did to our puzzle!")

I got to thinking about 1st and 4th, the grades into which my kids are going. Ya know, there is a freeway exit nearby called "1st and 4th." Those are street names to me. So I made these. A little freehanded shape on green paper, white paint pen outline, and chipboard numbers made them look like street signs! (I did diverge and use some orange crayons here. It can't look too matchy matchers, right?)

So that's it. I'm so glad I took the time to display things that reflect our family and what we love. My kids were so happy to see it when they woke up on day one. They loved that I posted the 1st and 4th grade signs.

I love honoring and celebrating their milestones. Thanks for being a good little example to me, Shauna, on lots of creative ways to celebrate our kids.  

Sweet words for dad

Just wanted to show you this graphic I made today for my man.

I have to admit the saying was lifted off something my mom saw in her church's bookstore.

(The free background was from here.)

My man is truly my son's hero.

And my daughter's love.

Good dads are hot, and I'm so glad ours is ours.

I hope you all had a Happy Father's Day!  

Just cute stuff

Wow. I have a lot of little snippets of amazing to show you.

These are a handful of things I'm so loving right now. 

My side table arrangement.

A bright frame, and old globe, a good piece of fabric, and some pretty books to inspire me.

It's kinda crowded up against my desk, but whatevs.

This little lady is watching over all the books I can't wait to dig into. I love her. Thank you.

And look at this. Can you tell what it is?

An angler fish. Happiest one you'll ever see.

Kinda like my little guppy.

I just love my kids' art.

This angler fish is using his light to lure you towards a big hug, I think.

Hoop Art.

I got like 6 new hoops just waiting for my creative juices to make them beautiful.

Don't you just love having good supplies waiting in the wings?

{I'm giving away this little creation on top of the page today}

Long after Christmas, this gift remains a favorite delight, thanks to my brother and sis-in-law.

How perfect is this tea kettle for me? 

Not too big, just the right color, and heats up water in a flash. 

My three little chicks.

Only at Easter, dude.

Be okay with the chickens.

Aren't they precious? Imagine they're pecking grain off my antique hutch.

I saved these for the big finale.

Heather at Cookie Mondays just posted these pics (and many others) of her daughter's 4-year old Milk and Cookies Birthday Party.
Oh my goodness. My favorite birthday idea to date.

That Heather is a genius, huh?

(and so is Mel, who is behind the camera, by the way)

  

I wonder if Heather would make me a plate of these for my birthday?? I totally want them instead of cake next year!!  WHAT is that filling? Ice cream? Frosting? Like the filling of a whoopie pie?

Ah, the wonder.

{Have you EVER seen me get this excited over a dessert? I'm a simple girl. Haha, I mean I just like to pretend I am.}

Wait just a minute.

What if YOU have a baking party for your birthday, since you're next!

I'll make the cupcake liner garland. Bea could make the cookie sandwiches.

And we could make aprons for all our friends?!

OK, maybe that idea will just stay in my dreams.

But it was a good one, huh?

Linking up to Paisley Jade's Things I'm Loving!

{'Cause all these are things I'm seriously loving.}

Spray Paint Revolution

You're gonna be proud!

March 10, 2011 is a day that will go down in history as the day I became a tagger. Well, like a mommy-nesting-spring-cleaning-decorator version of a tagger.

Thanks to Julie's tricks of the trade (she's a spray paint queen!), I slowly honed my skills and by the end of the day, emptied two and a half cans of spray paint on my goods. My hands were stained, my fingers were completely fatigued and this weird tendon in my wrist was hurting like all get out.

Color: Sweet Tomato. LOVE it. It is not red, and it is not orange. It's perfectly inbetween. It's by Rustoleum, American Accents. I got it at the giant Joann Fabrics store that takes me an annoying thirty minutes to get to.

Item #1 - magazine rack which does not hold magazines. It hangs in the guest bathroom and holds towels, my daughter's toiletries, Windex wipes and Clorox wipes, so she can help clean said bathroom, and also displays some cute things on top.

Item #2 - towel bar in the same bathroom. Isn't it great?

Then I was on a roll. I had also bought a can of Aqua, just because I loved it.

I hunted around and these guys got transformed from ugly grey/green to this.

Magical. I am in love!!

This chipping little metal side table was just about to go in the trash. But because of the SPR (Spray Paint Revolution) I now know that I don't have to accept things as they are. I can change them! (OK, only the color of things, and only things that aren't alive.)

Watch out, though, 'cause I feel powerful, and it's starting to go to my head.

(Or maybe it's just the fumes.)

Ooh. And together, they are even your favorite color combination! 

What else can we spray paint??

{Also, I just updated the "Our Story" link at the top, so it is no longer a blank page! Check it out.}

Changing it up

Hey pal!

Isn't there just so much delicious change happening all around us?

Well, the most obvious change is right here, thanks to Heather, the very gifted blogger/designer/person-in-general...gosh, she has so many talents and gifts, I don't even know where to start in defining her! But you know that already. And you know Blessed Little Nest, her amazing blog. And you KNOW she's speaking at Blog Sugar!!  Yay. When we get there in September, I can give her an actual hug and thank her for all the radness she's delivered to this here Cake & Cotton! Heather, we love you.

I can't even decide what aspect I like the best about our new look...the houndstooth? the fonts? the sidebar?? all so great, huh? Somehow lovely things always (ok, often?) come out of our collaborations. And oh my gosh. The new button! I hope all our friends want to take it.

OK. So check it. All last night and this morning, I was embarking on change of my own in my house. Painting my kitchen! It is just one small step in the many I want to take in redecorating my home.

Finally. You know it took me the last five years just to get used to my house. Just to accept it as our home. And now, this redecorating is my outward display of finding joy here. Putting my own self and my own taste into my space. I'm growin' up.

This color....I don't know how to describe it. It's called "Open Range." That helps. All I know is that I love it and it is not light tan, like the color I'm covering up. Actually, it's a LOT like that citronish color in our new blog design, like in the houndstooth?? You know how it is....my actual kitchen wall space is pretty small, so I'm getting a lot of punch and a lot of drama with a great color in small blocks.





That's me focusing. I tied all my hair back, ya know, so it didn't get painty. My neck looks really long. I'm standing in the sink, so that's why I'm almost hitting the ceiling with my head and the light is threatening to burn my hair.

And oh my gosh. You should see the window valance I made to hang up as soon as my paint dries. It's so cute. I even gave it a box pleat! Those pics will come soon.





I have painting skillz. I even have a favorite brush. That's the one I'm using. I've painted a lot of rooms in our past houses. I think it's fun. My hubs? Not so much.

Spring is in the air, and I need some ch-ch-ch-changes!! 

How 'bout you, Reedling? Heard you were changing things up in Ella-bear's room? C'mon please put a picture of your progress right here, mkay?

{ahh! i don't even have any pictures of ella's room yet!!
but i do have one of this little beauty we found on Saturday....}

{oh, how i love her.}
xoxo 
snr

Hugs, (oh, and how much do i LOVE my new signature?? lots.)